When University President-elect Amy Gutmann moves into her office this July, she will be flanked by a fellow Princeton University administrator who is a bit more familiar with College Hall.
Gutmann selected Joann Mitchell to serve as her vice president and chief of staff last week. In addition to her experience at Princeton, Mitchell brings with her ties to Penn and Philadelphia. She served as Penn's director of affirmative action for about seven years before moving to Princeton in 1993 to become the vice provost for administration.
Since her departure from Penn, Mitchell has remained a part of the West Philadelphia community, attending White Rock Church at 52nd and Chestnut streets. She said that she looks forward to returning to Philadelphia, which she described as a key asset to the University.
Gutmann said Mitchell's past experience at Penn would be valuable as the new president acclimates herself to the University.
"One of the things that makes me so delighted about this is it's an early bridge from the past to the future," Gutmann said. "I know that [Mitchell's] ability to connect with students and faculty and community leaders alike is just enormous, and nobody could do it better."
At Princeton, Mitchell has demonstrated her leadership skills and commitment to a collective approach to problem solving.
"She gets to know the individual people in the departments. She works with ... everyone at all levels of the university on a personal, very positive basis," Princeton's Budget Director and Associate Provost for Finance Steven Gill said. "She establishes relationships from day one, whether there's an issue or not."
Gill said Mitchell has a particularly close relationship with Gutmann at Princeton.
"She and Amy worked together terrifically from the very start," he said. "Penn is very fortunate to have both of them, and they're a great team."
Princeton's Vice Provost for Institutional Research Jed Marsh noted Mitchell's dedication to diversity on campus and praised her commitments to every member of the Princeton community.
In addition to working closely with both students and administrators on diversity and budgetary issues, Mitchell created a program to help staff members achieve success in the workplace.
"She was fundamental in piloting ... Excelling at Princeton, a program for staff members to help them develop their basic skills," Marsh said. The program allowed several staff members the opportunity to take classes through Mercer County Community College. The classes were paid for by the university, and staff members were given time out of their workday to take them.
"She's an extremely hard worker," Marsh said. "She's here from sunup to well past sundown, day in and day out."
Mitchell completed her bachelor's degree in psychology at Davidson College and received a law degree from Vanderbilt University. She then served as the assistant director of the Opportunity Development Center at Vanderbilt before working at Penn and Princeton.
